River revival

We're all stakeholders when it comes to giving the San Jacinto River new life.

Copyright 2016: Houston Chronicle

June 9, 2016

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff

Mike Gary show off his catch while fishing in the San Jacinto River as it overflows onto exit and entrance ramps off of 59 near Humble on March 11, 2016. Gary says he only fishes when the river floods which makes for a successful day of catching catfish. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )

Mike Gary show off his catch while fishing in the San Jacinto River...

The historic San Jacinto River is sick, but it doesn't have to be sick unto death. Like the Hudson, the Cuyahoga, the Monongahela and other industrial-use and abuse waterways that have been made cleaner and healthier in recent years, the Houston-area stream can be brought back to life, as well. As Chronicle reporter Matthew Tresaugue wrote recently, the sporadically beautiful river one of these days might even be safe for swimming, wading and kayaking again. The ingredients for that to happen are attention, resolve and, of course, money.

Fortunately, the West Fork Watersheds Partnership is providing the first two requirements, but the newly formed group can't go it alone. Because the river's pollution comes from numerous sources - bird waste, livestock, wildlife, industry, pets and people - the cleanup effort will require the cooperation of various agencies, organizations and individuals.

"We will be asking stakeholders, 'What can we do?'" Jessica Uramkin, project manager for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, told the Chronicle. TCEQ, one of the partners in the cleanup effort, needs to be aggressive about monitoring the multi-pronged approach to rescuing the river.

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The San Jacinto has a west and east fork that merge in northeast Harris County. From there the river flows past the San Jacinto Battlefield site and on into Galveston Bay.

Sand- and gravel-mining operations are the culprits along the west fork, choking the stream with sediment and reducing the capacity of Lake Houston, on which millions of people rely. In Montgomery County, where the population has increased from fewer than 300,000 in 2000 to roughly 520,000 today, the problem is more houses, more pavement and more pets. The level of bacteria is trending upward.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council, a regional body involved in the cleanup effort, urges developers to improve water quality by using ponds, porous pavements and green roofs to corral rainwater and let it sink into the ground before it goes into storm drains. Communities also can plant native vegetation that requires little, if any, fertilizers. H-GAC can't mandate enlightened development, but some builders seem to have gotten the message. Tresaugue mentions one company that plans to preserve up to 900 acres along the San Jacinto as a natural buffer. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Bayou Land Conservancy has placed conservation easements on more than 1,300 acres along the San Jacinto's west fork to prevent the land from being developed or used in ways that could harm the river.

A city long known for its proud resistance to planning and regulation may finally be coming of age. Both the recent floods and the hints of new life on a venerable river should remind us that when it comes to the environment we are all stakeholders. "What can we do?" must be our mantra.